Lady Bulldogs slip past Delta; soccer team falls in Marion

DELTA -- The Sikeston Lady Bulldogs continued their winning ways on Thursday afternoon as they traveled to Delta handing the home team a loss 7-6. The win puts Sikeston's record at 13-8 on the season.

The Lady Bulldogs put up three runs in the first inning, two in the fourth and two more in the seventh to push ahead for the win. Delta also managed three in the first and added one in the second, fourth and fifth innings.

Sikeston head coach Tiffany King said that she thought her team battled hard against the Lady Bobcats.

"I think we came out and again hit the ball well," said King. "I can't say enough about our offense."

"As far as our defense, we just need to communicate better," she added. "We had some errors that hurt us. If we can take care of that before districts we'll be okay."

Sarah Hopson was once again awarded the victory from the pitching rubber. Hopson lasted all seven innings, giving up three earned runs on six hits and three walks while striking out six.

"Sarah (Hopson) battled all the way through," said King. "Delta has some good hitters. Once she got calmed down she did just fine."

Eleven hits were key in the victory for the Lady Bulldogs and King said that nearly the entire lineup pitched in on Thursday afternoon.

Elizabeth Rains led the way going 3-for-4 with a single, two doubles and four RBIs, while Mary Deason went 2-for-4 with a single, a double and an RBI. Jamie Reed had an RBI triple, Hopson had an RBI single, Courtney Street added a single and Emilie Martin chipped in with a double.

"I can't say enough about (Elizabeth) Rains," said King. "She's a freshman stepping in at the end of the season and she goes 3-for-4. I can't say enough about that."

Up next for Sikeston is a road game at Kennett on Monday afternoon.

Soccer

Marion, Ill. 1, Sikeston 0

MARION, Ill. -- The Marion Wildcats fended off the Sikeston Bulldogs on Thursday evening on the soccer field as they won by a score of 1-0.

According to Sikeston head coach Derrick Long, the game was an all-out battle as both teams had plenty of scoring opportunities and didn't capitalize.

"I thought we played a good game," said Long. "It's tough to play at Marion, but both teams had multiple opportunities. It was a back-and-forth game and nobody could manage to put one in the net."

"Jason Isaacs had another good game for us (in goal)," he added. "Our defense also played well, we just gave them 11 corner kicks which is a golden opportunity to score. We just eventually left one in the box and couldn't clear it out."

The one that couldn't clear was a goal at the 75-minute mark by Justin Meyers, assisted by Austin Kovack.

The loss puts Sikeston's record at 2-13 on the season.

The junior varsity is now 4-5-3 after a 1-1 tie preceding the varsity loss. Aaron Young scored Sikeston's goal and was assisted by Evan Deere.

Junior High football

JACKSON -- The Sikeston eighth and ninth grade football teams split games against the Jackson Indians on Thursday night. The eighth grade won 22-16 while the freshman lost 29-14.

"We threw the ball well in both games," Sikeston head coach Brett Blackman said. "We've got to get more consistent at running the ball on both teams. But, both of them are starting to come along."

In the eighth grade game, Markeith Bratcher scored the Bulldogs first touchdown at the 6:07 mark with a 50-yard run.

Tyler Neal followed up with a 52-yard run in the second quarter, while Bratcher added another score in the fourth with a 42-yard run.

Eldridge Gibson scored the ninth grade teams first touchdown in the first quarter with a 32-yard run. The Bulldogs didn't score again until the fourth quarter when Gibson caught a 50-yard pass from quarterback Luke Keefer.